New Delhi: The Top Court, on Friday, is slated to pronounce the verdict on pleas seeking court-monitored investigation in the multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France. Earlier, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had reserved its judgment on a batch of pleas on November 14. Worth mention here the Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) created by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.

Advocate M L Sharma was the first petitioner in the case. Soon after, another lawyer Vineet Dhanda had moved the Top court with the plea for court-monitored investigation into the deal. AAP leader Sanjay Singh has also filed a petition in opposition to the fighter jet deal.

Post the three petitions were lodged , former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie along with activist advocate Prashant Bhushan had approached the apex court with a plea for a direction to the CBI to register FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal.

The PM Modi led Centre has defended the alleged deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets and opposed public disclosure of the pricing details. India inked an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of Indian Air Force equipment. It is noted that the deal is estimated to be about Rs 58,000 crore (about USD 8 billion).